Better late than never

22 days into 2019 and this is my very first post of the year. So I guess, I shall follow the norm of doing a look back at the stuff I have done for the past year in 2018... Kinda late, but better late than never...

To be honest... I only remembered several big stuff happening last year maybe because they were too overwhelming that it kinda overlapped the little things in my life which kinda makes me regret not blogging when these small things happened...

First things first... I hit the big 3-0... and a lot has changed!! Knots are starting to tie and I am finally getting to know what I want in life, the main objective that I want to achieve in my future... SECURITY.... regardless in whatever aspect in life, I need security... I am not someone who can settle with being healthy and happy, I need more, and I used to feel guilty about that, I thought I was being greedy but it turns out, some people just want more in life... I am one of those people... I am not saying that it is wrong to just want to be happy and healthy, just for me, being healthy and happy is not enough, I need to be in control and feel secure...

So, I made a decision... Quite a scary one... I decided to start a business!! In a different state, 2 hours away from home, everyone I have told will ask me, why?? Why did I choose a place that requires 2 hours of travel?? To be honest, I guess it's just fate... I have the chance of nearer venues but my indecisive nature cost me to lose them... So, this an opportunity that appeared after seeing a few slipped passed so before much consideration, I took it.

Then here comes the part where I had to become an adult, I had to meet with suppliers for renovation, sign contracts, learn about business, register the business and a whole lot of adulting stuff which includes bills and being organised... So, here's how it looked like...

Quite a huge space and minimal stuff to be done... but minimal doesn't mean zero... here's the con when the place is 2 hours away from home, you have to place 100% trust on your suppliers to do a good job... They didn't fail me though... At least I think they didn't..

Then... It's time to work my magic... had a personal assistant with me to work on the display bookshelves... These were 100% DIY-ed...

From wooden pallets that look something like this...

To these... attached some plywood to create the shelves and there you have it... A wooden pallet book display shelves...

A simple arrangement for the classroom setting and voila... A class is born...

The exterior of the lot... I haven't got a signboard yet... never ending of stuff to do, I need to apply a gazillion types of licenses...

Look out for our bunting... It's quite eye-catching... Huge shoutout to my colleague who helped me design this FOC!!! But I do respect creativity, I am gonna repay him with countless meals of his choice... 

Classes have started and here are some of my students hard at work... Doing great at every class... 

So that's my biggest achievement made in 2018... It was not an easy one... I started to worry about stuff like if I were able to pay rent... or do I have enough students to sustain... This stuff really bugged me to the extent that it will wake me up in the middle of the night having me wonder if I have made the right decision, was all these just a huge mistake?? Did I fairy-taled the whole idea to make it seem easy which in reality is undescribable times worse than it seems??

Besides that, being a licensee with a licensor who has principles that sometimes doesn't make sense is a huge PITA!! Not to mention, these requirements kept me from sleeping too... Restless days... Sleepless nights... What have I gotten myself into??

And sometimes I would think... Why didn't I start this 2 years ago when I was still in my 20s where I will still have the energy to push myself to the limit?? I always thought that 30 was supposed to be the age where people start settling down and build a family, instead, I am building a career... But I am still glad I took the opportunity and started... It's better late than never though... And this is a huge contribution to my future's security... In case I get retrenched or just got tired of working in an office, I will always have something to fall back on to without having to depend on anybody...

Well, I sure hope things could get better...

signing off!
Toodles!

Pulau Ketam 311216-010117

I spent my New Year on an island.. I bet that's gonna sound cool, I count down-ed in my sleep at a hotel room in Pulau Ketam with people singing karaoke at the hotel lounge right beside my room.. To be fair, they stopped singing at maybe 11.30pm.. So I would say.. Let me tell you how I spent one of my last countdowns in my 20s..

So, the plan started when the 4 of us were preparing for TOPIK (Test Of Proficiency In Korean language) and were so stressed out because we were totally not ready for it and took it just because we have been learning for so long, it is time to do something about it.. Before we attended the exam, we said that we will plan something after the exam to de-stress.. Yea, we seem pretty "mengada" about this but it was tensed.. Try taking TOPIK II unprepared, and you will know what I mean..

Then after the exam, we did came across some homestays via Facebook and discussed about our plan.. then we suddenly decided on Pulau Ketam.. I think it was my idea but I don't remember why I suggested.. anyway, Pulau Ketam it is..

So after the venue was confirmed, we had to fix a date.. and all of us being working adults.. It's pretty hard to get everybody together.. Me, especially *hides face* since I have been teaching on weekends, it's pretty hard to have an empty weekend for a 2 days 1 night.. We could have taken leaves but it was pretty inconvenient at that time and I forgot why.. anyway.. in the end, we decided to just go on the last day of the year and celebrate the New Year there..

And then.. we planned.. this is the boring part, which includes googling and whatsapp-ing so I shall skip to the day we put our plan into action..

The plan was to meet at KL Sentral at 11.30am, have lunch and go to Port Klang via KTM together.. and then everybody reached early, so we met at 11am, had lunch and head off to Port Klang at 12.50pm (coz the train only started moving at 12.50pm). It was an hour-long ride till we reached Port Klang.. and make our way to the jetty.. bought our tickets.. return air-conditioned ferry tickets for RM15. Waited again coz the boat will only move at 2.45pm.

We reached the island after a 30 minutes ride..

Here we are..

And that's the hotel we are checking in to..

Sea Lion Hotel.. you will see it the first thing after you jumped off the boat.. it's right at the jetty.. The Biggest Hotel on Pulau Ketam..

That's me checking in.. I have booked a VIP room for 4 earlier.. the guy was really helpful.. it's RM168 per night, including surcharge as it was a public holiday eve plus weekend..

I forgot to take photos of the room but it was decent, with 2 double beds, a TV, Hot Water Heater, Shower, and a Kettle..

It was drizzling slightly when we reached Pulau Ketam so we decided to stay in the room for a while until the drizzle cleared..

After hanging in the room for around 30 minutes.. we headed out mainly to decide where to have dinner.. I asked the receptionist for a map before we wandered off..

 

The first restaurant we set our eyes upon and became our dinner place that night..

Behold.. the colourful roads around Crab Island..

I love to look at colourful scenes.. and as you could see from the photos.. even the houses are colourful.. the villagers painted their house whatever colour they like..

Besides colours, there were pretty murals around too..










The island is pretty small, you could finish exploring within a few hours if you were to explore thoroughly.. if you are just glancing through.. then it may only take around an hour..
You could rent bicycles to tour around the island.. but we prefer walking.. it's just RM5 per bike per day... a different price for e-bikes.. I think it's RM20 per hour, if i remember correctly..

Besides mural and colourful houses, you will see quite a number of temples here as well since Crab Island's residents are mainly Chinese..

 

We stumbled upon a souvenir shop and decided to get some tidbits for the night as we count down.. we bought 9 packets of keropok that cost RM23.5..

And then, we became super hungry... so we bought a medium Oyster Omelette for RM10 from the stall next to the restaurant we had dinner at..

Yummy yummy yum... And behold.. our dinner! Which cost RM159.50

Salted Egg Crab

The crab was so good, it deserves 2 photos.. haha

Butter Prawns

Steamed Lala

Fried Veggie

And, we went back to the hotel after dinner, where we watched an episode of 도께비 and 竊聽風雲 2 while waiting for the clock to strike 12.. munching off keropok as we were waiting.. Our room was just next to the common area of the hotel and apparently there was a karaoke session going on and on and on... 

I guess it's the age factor as we decided to countdown in our sleep.. However the karaoke session did not seem like it was going to end... Anyway, we ignored and just went to sleep.. Luckily, it ended at around 11.30pm. but there were fireworks going off during midnight which I heard but am too lazy to get up and look.. So that's how we made it to 2017.. haha

We woke up at around 9-ish and head out for breakfast.. 

Nasi Lemak, Crab Island style where its sambal is made from dried shrimps.. tasty!! It costs RM2 per packet, we ordered 2 to share.. RM4

And because we loved the oyster omelette so much, we decided to the to the same stall for clam aka "lala" omelette, this time we ordered the big one for RM10...

While waiting for the to fry the omelette, the owner of the stall told us that the restaurant we went to yesterday had a lot of bad reviews online and asked how was our experience yesterday.. Besides, there were people smoking around us, it's quite ok.. I am not sure if the food is pricey or not since we didn't compare.. but if I were to visit again, i will give this man (the owner of the omelette stall) a chance and try the food at his restaurant..

We brought our breakfast back to our hotel and ate at the common area beside our room.. and discovered that the view from our room was pretty spectacular though.. we did not even open our window to look..

After breakfast, we packed and checked out from the hotel.. and brought some dried shrimp sambal from the hotel.. they were selling for RM12 per pack. but we bought 5 for RM55..

While waiting for the next speedboat to arrive.. we have 붕어빵 alike ice cream.. rm5 per piece.. a total of RM20 for 4..

One last look at the crabs from Crab Island..

I didn't bother to zoom in but there were plenty of little crabs scurrying around...

And then, we board the speedboat back to Port Klang..

And too a picture with the Golden Giant Crab before leaving..

The Port Klang Train station still has this vintage looking pondok.. In contrast to the modern building on the opposite, see below..

And, that was how i celebrated the crossing from 2016 to 2017..

I sure hope that it will be a good year ahead.. at least be smooth..

I have not been making resolutions for quite a few years now.. should I be making some this year??

We'll see if I will in the next post..

As for now... signing off..
Toodles!